Fluttershy's Nuke
by jsun25
Summary: The universe, though cruel, can and will give chances to those who never had one in the first place. Let's say, for example, a egg that's yet to hatch. Rated "T" for safety and death at the beginning.
1. Child of the Volcano

**Okay, so I realize I haven't put anything up in awhile for GoAC, but honestly, I just cannot think of how to continue the story. So, as with Brand New World, Same Old Song, Ghost of Arkham City is on indefinite hiatus. I am truly sorry for those of you anticipating the next chapter. If you have any ideas for either story, I'd be more than happy to hear from you. Enjoy the first chapter of this new story, and I'll see you at the bottom.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story except my OC, and the time zones, unless someone else came up with them first, in which case, I don't.**

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><p><strong>[Story Begin]<br>****[Volcano Area, 8:45 pm Tanzian Central Time (TCT)]**

The volcano shook and rumbled in unison with the cry of a dying monster. Said monster cast one last mourning glance at her hidden nest, not caring for her own life, but for that of her unhatched offspring. Knowing she would not survive this encounter with the false-pelts, the Brute Wyvern made a decision. Letting her anger over take her once more, she thrust what remained of her horn into the ground and jerked her head up, sending a series of explosions towards the nest. The false-pelts scattered, but a red one got thrown back by the explosion chain, and did not move after landing. The explosion chain stopped before reaching the nest, but the shockwave from the explosions was more than enough to send the sole egg tumbling down the cliff side. An indignant cry from a yellow false-pelt made her glad she did so. They had been after her egg. The knowledge filled her with a final adrenaline rush, and the monster vowed that though she would die, she would take as many false-pelts with her as possible. Feeling the slime mold creep over her body, she went into an all-out explosive attack. The Brachydios fought to avenge her unborn baby.

~~~~Line Break~~~~

As the battle raged on above, the egg continued to fall. By fate, or by luck, it had avoided cracking. Whichever one that had influenced the egg seemed too have run out, however. The last edge it rolled off of led to a ground covered in stalagmites. Yet, once again, the universe had a different answer. A pair of mismatched arms reached out and snatched the egg before it hit the ground. Pulling the egg towards its equally mismatched serpentine body, the owner of the arms spoke. "That was a close one, wouldn't you say?" Peering at the egg, he continued. "You are lucky I was exploring this region outside of my world. Whatever happened that-" A death roar from above cut the speaker off. Looking sadly to the top of the cliff and back at the egg, he said no more on the matter. Knowing that the hunters, who had undoubtedly killed the parent of the egg, would come looking for it, he flew off to where they wouldn't be able to reach them. '_Now I'm carrying a parentless egg. I can't just leave it; the guilt would kill me! Who could possibly…well, she could, but…I don't even know what kind of egg this is…then again, she has taken care of stranger creatures…I'll ask her, and help in any way I can…it's the least I can do to honor its parents._' Nodding to himself, the creature from another world opened a wormhole to home. Flying through the portal, Discord had one last thought. '_I hope this isn't the egg of that one monster that eats anything and everything…_'

~~~~Line Break~~~~

Up above, the mother Brachydios dragged herself to the cliff edge. She had successfully driven off the multicolored false-pelts, but her injuries were too great. She would not survive. Having reached the edge, she looked down. For a moment, she briefly wondered if her injuries had caused hallucinations. Holding her egg was a strange, mismatched creature, floating midair without any signs of support. It wings weren't even moving. Blinking, she lowered her head with a contented sigh. She wasn't hallucinating. Instinct told her that was her egg. It would survive. She watched the creature open a hole from nothing and enter the hole. A distinct _nyaa _filled her earholes. The Felynes would do as they did with any other monster the false-pelts didn't kill, and give her to the volcano's lava pools so that she would become part of the fiery mountain, and grant a home to the various monsters that lived here. Closing her eyes, the mother let out her last breath, knowing her child would be safe, at least, from the true monsters of this world.

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Unknown meadow, edge of Everfree forest, 2:00 pm, Standard Equestrian Time (SET)]**

Discord's wormhole opened up into a meadow, not too far from the Everfree forest. He made to snap his talons to teleport to Fluttershy's house, but stopped before he did, and looked at the egg cradled in his lion foreleg. '_That really would not be the best. Were it not an egg, I would do so. It is, however, and I don't want to risk the unborn hatchling to become a chaotic creature like me._' Smiling and chuckling to himself about the possibilities of another chaotic draconequus let loose in Equestria, the Spirit of Chaos began the flight to Fluttershy's house. Speaking aloud to the egg, he said "I really do hope you get along well here. I don't know much about the natives of your world, but I do know most are carnivores. I suppose Fluttershy could help with that. She does take care of some meat-eaters after all." Discord looked at the egg. "Or I could make you an omnivore. Fruits and veggies are good for everyone…except me. I just turn 'em to cotton candy and chocolate milk. Not that you'd know what that is…" He continued his rambling, telling the egg about Equestria. He kept it up, all the way to Fluttershy's house.

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Ponyville, 2:00 pm, SET]**

Meanwhile, back at Twilight's library, she and Pinkie were _finally_ organizing the books, so that everypony, not just Pinkie, could find them. They had decided on sorting by the author's last name, and alphabetizing the books in that way. Pinkie Pie had wanted to sort them by color, but the lavender alicorn pointed out that, once again, only the Party Pony would be able to find the books. They had just finished authors A-M when Pinkie's Pinkie Sense went off. All of the signs, all at once. This of course, caught Twilight's attention. "Don't tell me. It's a huge doozy, possibly even bigger than when I believed in your Pinkie Sense. "

"Yup!"

"Any clue as to what it is?"

"Nope!"

"But it's coming soon."

"Yup!" Twilight frowned in thoughtful concentration. If it was bigger that her acceptance of the Pinkie Sense, that meant whatever-it-was was potentially bigger than a hydra, such as the one that attacked them. Twilight looked back at her friend.

"Discord doesn't have anything to do with this, does he?" Pinkie thought for a bit.

"He does! I don't know how, but he brought the doozy here, and if it was enough to catch his attention, then that means it's super exciting, and if it's super exciting, then it's gotta be really fun, and if it's really fun, then…" Twilight tuned her out. If Discord had brought the doozy here, they should at least see what it was. Walking towards the door, Twilight cut off Pinkie's rambling.

"Come on, Pinkie. We're going to see what Discord's doozy is."

"Okie doki loki!" They exited the building, and Twilight started trotting off before she realized she didn't even know where Discord was. She turned back to Pinkie.

"You do know where he is, right?"

"He's at Fluttershy's house!" This slightly confused the Element of Magic. What did Fluttershy have to do with the doozy?

"Oh...kay then. To Fluttershy's it is." Pinkie smiled her signature grin, and started bouncing off towards Fluttershy's house. Twilight smiled and shook her head at Pinkie's antics, quickly catching up to her. No matter what happened, she knew she could rely on her friends.

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Unknown location, unknown time]**

Darkness. Darkness and warmth from all around and vibrations and noises and a sense of movement, moving and rolling and then falling, falling towards something and then being caught and warmth, warmth from something else and then a voice, different from what he heard and knew from before but still a voice and then a loud noise and rumbling and vibrations and moving again, moving forwards and then-

Nothing. No feeling. No darkness, no light. Just nothing.

And then the darkness and warmth and movement came back and the voice was speaking again and they were moving and moving and falling again but more controlled that he had been and then no movement, no movement but a new voice, softer than the second voice and then the new voice had a warmth and this warmth was the best he had felt and he knew what this warmth was. He knew what this new warmth was.

_Mother_.

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><p><strong>I'm going to be honest with you guys. I have no idea where this is going. Like with GoAC, this was a random idea that I put down onto Word. Y'all have probably noticed that currently, all my stories are in categories people hardly ever look at. I don't know why that is. If you'd like a story in a more well-known category, ask, and I'll see what I can do. New record for amount of words in a chapter: 1,414. Not including the AN at the beginning and end. If you guys noticed that I put in OC as a character, it's because of the baby Brachydios (Brach or Brachy for short). The little guy is going to be my OC, though I'm not really sure how that's going to turn out. I've already come up with a name for him too, so please, don't suggest anything. Finally, the last POV of each chapter will be the eggs POV, up until it hatches, which should be soon.**

**jsun25, logging off**


	2. The Favor

**[Fluttershy's House, Outskirts of Ponyville, 2:10 pm Standard Equestrian Time (SET)]**

Discord slowly circled down towards the home of his first friend, having a few last minute thoughts about handing the egg over to her. After all, he hadn't seen which monster had laid the egg. Once again, he shuddered at the thought of the bottomless pit of a monster, the one that so resembled a giant pickle with legs, arms, a mouth, and an endless stomach. Even he, with all his power, kept a distance from them when he visited that world. What were they called? Davel Jo, or something similar to that. But he was getting off track. Time to ask Fluttershy if she would care for the egg. If it was a baby Davel Jo (Devil Show, maybe?), he would simply take it back to its own world. Even the small ones were left alone. Landing, he raised his curled talons to knock, but first took a last look at the egg. "If you want out of this, last chance to say anything." The egg didn't respond. The draconequus shrugged. "Fine. I won't go against your choice." Hoping he hadn't condemned the small animals inside, the Lord of Chaos knocked four times.

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Living Room, Fluttershy's House, 2:09 pm SET]**

A yellow Pegasus with a pink mane and tail hummed quietly to herself as she unwrapped a bandage from around a hawk's chest. The hawk emitted a cheerful squawk and flapped her wings in thanks. "There you go. All better. Now, you be more careful the next time you're flying, okay?" The hawk nodded and squawked again. Fluttershy smiled. "Good. Go on, go home." Spreading her wings, the hawk flew through the open window, and out into the wilds. The Element of Kindness gave a small sigh and turned to go to the kitchen for a cup of tea. She was about halfway to her destination when she heard knocking at the door. She looked at her favorite animal. "Angel Bunny, could you please get that?" Angel shrugged and hopped towards the door. Fluttershy smiled again. "Thanks, Angel." Trotting into the kitchen, she had gotten out the mug and tea bag when she heard Angel shriek. Next thing she knew, the little rabbit was holding onto her leg, hiding behind it and peering out to glare at his least favorite being. Fluttershy followed Angel's glare. "Oh! Discord! I wasn't expecting you back so soon." Discord cast an irritated glance at the rabbit bravely glaring at him from behind Fluttershy.

"To be honest, I wasn't either. A series of…events, let us say, led me to coming back from the other world earlier than I had intended. In any case, I have a favor to ask of you. You see, I-" He was cut off as somepony knocked on the door once more.

"Oh, my. Excuse me, Discord. Let me see who that is." The draconequus rolled his eyes and waved her on. She gave him a small smile and went to open the door. She nearly jumped out her skin when she did so.

"HI, FLUTTERSHY!" This loud and exuberant greeting just about had her fainting on the spot from fright.

"Pinkie, I think that greeting was a little _too_ enthusiastic. Sorry about that, Fluttershy." Coming back to her senses, Fluttershy saw that both Pinkie Pie and Twilight had come to her cottage.

"Oh, it's okay. I suppose I should be used to it by now. Would you like to come in?" Twilight nodded.

"Sure. We actually came here to see Discord." This made Fluttershy blink in surprise.

"Why? He hasn't done anything wrong, has he?"

"Nope! My Pinkie sense told me about a HUGE doozy, and that Discord had something to do with it, and that he was over here with you, so we came here!" The pink pony grinned, showing no signs (as usual) of exhaustion from her rambling.

"Well, she's right about me being involved, and that I'm here. I don't know if it's much of a doozy right now, though." All three of the ponies turned to see the Lord of Chaos, who was sitting on nothing and whose right arm was currently gone. Pinkie was the only one out of the three that wasn't surprised.

"Hey! You know about hammerspace, too?" This question had an alicorn, a pegasus, and a draconequus staring at her. Twilight was first to speak.

"You…know where his arm is?" The Party Pony nodded.

"Hammerspace! Where do you think I keep my party cannon?" Discord had developed a look of concentration.

"I'll scan you for chaos magic later. Right now though… … …oh, where is it?" He stuck his left arm and head inside the hammerspace hole, still speaking, though his voice was now slightly muffled. "One of these days, I'm going to clean this thing out…endless or not, I can't find anything when I need it…ah, here it is!" He pulled out of the hole, and closed it when he was through. In his mismatched arms was-

"Is that an egg?" Discord looked over to Fluttershy. Her expression was a mix of excitement, curiosity, and disappointment.

"Yes, it is. I didn't steal it, if that's what you were wondering." The disappointment cleared up when he stated that. "As you know-or, as Fluttershy knows, at least-I like to travel to other worlds, and explore them to see how different from our world they are. The last one I visited had creatures far more deadly than the ones here. There are at least two that are considered living forces of nature." He paused to put the egg down and took a sip of chocolate milk. For once, he actually drank the milk. Setting the glass down, he continued. "There are many different regions in that world. I traveled to a volcanic region, since from what I had heard from the humans of that world the rarest items were in that area. Now, at the same time, a group of hunters had been dispatched to take down a monster that got too close to a village. Something happened, no, I don't know what, and the egg of the monster came tumbling down a cliff, and would have smashed into the ground and shattered had I not caught it. The hunters are very thorough. I doubt that the monster, even if it won, lived after the battle. That's how good they are. Guessing that they would come after the egg, I brought the egg here, in the hopes that Fluttershy would take care of it." Fluttershy squeaked at this.

"M-me? B-but you said it was a m-monster's egg."

"I did say that. However, 'monster' is the general term for the creatures. They are actually different species of wyverns." The yellow pegasus visually relaxed at this statement.

"Oh. What's a wyvern?"

"A species of reptile as diverse as humans and ponies. The humans have many different species of wyverns in their world. Some are similar to dinosaurs, others to sea serpents and leviathans, still others to dragons." This did not cause the reaction Discord expected. Fluttershy had jolted upright, then had fallen over like a goat does when it's scared. "Something I said?"

"Fluttershy isn't a big fan of dragons," Twilight responded. "Spike's okay because he lives with us, and won't eat a pony. But the bigger, wild dragons? She doesn't sit well with those." Needless to say, Discord was shocked.

"You're telling me that the pegasus who stared down a cockatrice, defied a minotaur, fought off changelings, and reformed _me_ is scared of dragons?"

"Yep. I guess it's a prey reaction." During all this, Pinkie had been examining the egg.

"I don't think she'll need to worry about that. It doesn't look like a dragon. It looks more like a dinosaur." The spirit looked at her, bemused.

"What?"

"Yeah! My X-Ray glasses let me see through the shell. It's close to hatching, too." Fluttershy had recovered by now. She trotted over to the egg and felt it.

"Oh, my! Discord, you said this egg came from a volcanic region?" He nodded.

"Yes. Why?"

"It's getting cold! Since the egg was on or near a volcano, it's mother didn't need to sit on it, since the heat from the area would keep it warm enough. But now, it's in a colder enviroment, so it needs heat from something else! Twilight! Do you know any heating spells?" The alicorn shook her head.

"Sorry, Fluttershy. The closest I can get is an illuminating spell." The Element of Kindness's face grew determined.

"Well then. I'll just have to do it myself." Discord's face lit up like a Hearth's Warming tree.

"You mean you'll take care of the wyvern?" Fluttershy nodded.

"Yes. Now please, I need some space." The three of them left her there, and she began her task. Piling blankets next to the fireplace, she moved the egg to sit on top of them, then lit the fireplace. Finally, she curled herself around the egg, just barely fitting.

'_I don't care if you do look like a dragon. You're just an egg, and I WILL take care of you. You're safe now. Nothing will harm you here.' _Made drowsy by the warmth, Fluttershy slipped off to sleep, stilled wrapped around the object that had awoken her maternal instincts.

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Unknown place, unknown time]**

The scratchy voice was talking a lot, talking and talking and then a softer voice came through, so soft that he relaxed, and then two new voices, a loud a hyper one and a voice that sounded like no-nonsense. He preferred the soft voice. Whatever he was in before, it was gone now, because he no longer felt like was everywhere and nowhere at the same time, he knew where he was, well, not exactly, but still, he felt normal.

And then the cold. The cold that he feared, dreaded, despised, hated. It was seeping into his body, his body that was just about ready, but the cold couldn't come, no no no no no, not now. He wanted to meet the warmth he called Mother, the warmth he was sure the soft voice belonged to. The soft voice became more urgent, and the other voices left, leaving only the soft voice. Then the warmth came back, and it felt so much better, but it wasn't from Mother, no, this was like what he first felt, the warmth that was always there. Then Mother's warmth came back, and he felt the last of his changes happen. He was ready, ready, ready to meet the warmth, the soft voice, ready to meet Mother.

**After this chapter, I'm limiting myself to only the top or bottom for the Author's Note. Anyways, in Monster Hunter, the types of monsters are as follows: Brute Wyverns, Flying Wyverns, Fanged Wyverns, Beast Wyverns, Psuedowyverns, Leviathans, and Elder Dragons. Everything I said about the Brachydios egg was made up. I honestly have no idea how they raise their young. Yes, Pinkie knows what hammerspace is. It's where she stores whatever she needs. It's not just her. Characters in Sonic the Hedgehog, Discord, LEGO minfigures from the video games. There are a whole lot of beings that use it. Total words, not including the A/N's: 1,780. Next chapter: We meet the baby Brach!**

**jsun25, logging off**


	3. Newborns, Plots, and Explosions

**Only two chapters in, and I've already gotten a review and a follower. *Victory dance* Ahem. Anyways, responses to reviews will be up here, and the A/N will be at the bottom.  
>Guest: That's a pretty good idea. It'll be born a regular Brach, though. Discord meant that since it was still developing inside the egg, too much chaos magic might affect it in a bad way. Maybe it could use the pony form as a disguise when they go into town.<strong>

**[Fluttershy's Cottage, Living room, 8:17pm SET]**

Fluttershy woke to something shaking pressed up against her. As she blinked away the sleep, the events of earlier hit like a ton of bricks. The egg was moving, and tapping sounds could be heard coming from the inside. She quickly sat up, making sure not to disturb the egg or its makeshift nest. The tapping sound increased, and cracks formed on the egg's shell. Fluttershy could barely breathe. Barely six hours since arriving and it was already hatching? Pinkie Pie had not been kidding when she said it was close to hatching. For a brief moment she felt a flash of fear, but a powerful instinct booted the fear out of her. Why should she be scared of her own egg? Before she could process the thought that had just passed through her head, a forearm broke through the shell, causing her to gasp in slight surprise. The arm had two claws at the end, curled into a fist. A slight green glow emanated from the forearm. The forearm was obsidian in color, with most of the green coming from the fist. The other arm popped out shortly after. Two legs followed the arms, and were colored the same as the arms, except pale grey on the inside. On each foot were three toes, spread out for balance. The tail was next to swing out. It was shaped like a jagged hammer, with small spikes that would grow out, and also obsidian colored. Finally, the head emerged. The eyes were red, a strange color, but there were weirder. It had a muzzle, somewhat like a horse from Earth, except the end was pointed at the top. On the forehead was a nub with a green glow, similar to that of the forearms. The nub would grow into a horn. Around the back of the head were other nubs, which would grow into spikes for intimidation purposes.

The little guy blinked, taking a look around at the new world he had emerged into. Then he saw Fluttershy. Chirping happily, he tried to waddle over to her, only to fall onto the blankets, as he had not quite gotten out of his egg yet. The fall was hard enough to break the rest of the egg off of him, but soft enough to really only surprise him. Getting back up, he toddled over to the yellow pegasus. Fluttershy couldn't help but smile and giggle at the sight of him making his way over to her. She especially couldn't help her heart melting when the baby nuzzled her leg and peered up at her with wide eyes. Leaning down, she nuzzled him back. How could the hunters go after such an adorable creature? She turned and trotted into the kitchen, the baby Wyvern following as best he could. She laid out a leaf of lettuce and a fish in front of him. Having taken care of carnivores and omnivores before, such as falcons and bears, Fluttershy had some meats, but were really only for when they wouldn't eat anything else but meat. This was to see whether the baby was an herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore. He sniffed the lettuce first, and her hopes lifted slightly. He turned his nose up at it, though, and moved on to the fish. Sniffing the fish as he had the lettuce, his eyes lit up, and the baby promptly devoured the fish. Fluttershy felt herself feel equal parts of pride for the little one recognizing the right food, and disappointment that he wasn't an herbivore. Wait. Was the baby even a male? She flipped the reptile onto his back gently, and took a quick look to check. Yup. Definitely male. He struggled for a bit, trying to right himself. Succeeding, he looked up at Fluttershy again, those big eyes pleading for more food. Once again, Fluttershy couldn't help the smile that came to her face. So what if he was a carnivore? She felt he was worth it.

**[Port Tanzia, Guildmaster's Office, 1:02am Tanzian Central Time (TCT)]**

"Ah hope yeh four didn't mind me callin' yeh so late. This is the only time Ah ain't bein' watched like a caged Rathalos." The speaker watched the four hunters standing in front of him for a reaction. The one on the near right spoke first.

"No, sir. Anytime you need us, anything you need, we're here." The speaker's eyes snapped to him.

"Anything? Izzat so?" The hunter, a Dual Swords Blademaster, nodded. There were times he hated being the leader of this hunting party, such as when they were called for by the Guildmaster. "Care to explain why Ah didn't get that Brachydios egg Ah wanted? 'Cause unless it's invisible, it ain't here." The lead hunter gritted his teeth.

"It was as we stated in the report, sir. The mother, either intentionally or unintentionally, destroyed her own egg by sending it off a nearby cliff using the explosions caused by its slime. There were no other eggs." The Guildmaster studied the leader's face. It showed no signs of lying. No one could lie to the Guildmaster.

"Didja at least search for remains? There had to have been something left." The huntress, a Lancer Blademistress, farthest to the left spoke up this time.

"We did, Guildmaster. The area is normally unreachable, but some Felynes helped us. No remains were left that we could find." The newest member of the team, a Switch-Axe Bladelearner, quietly asked a question of the Guildmaster.

"If I may, sir?" The Wyvernian thought for a moment, then granted the hunter permission. "The phial in my Switch-Axe…responded, I suppose, to a certain area close to where the egg had fallen." He paused. The Guildmaster waved at him to continue. "Normally, the phial would slowly refill itself over time. Right then, though, was different. It filled instantly with energy, and…warped." The Guildmaster raised an eyebrow.

"Warped? Whaddya mean, warped?"

"It disappeared from my hand and reappeared, floating in midair." That caught the Guildmaster's attention. The energy phials used in Switch-Axes were powerful, but unsteady. Some used this to their advantage by forcing an explosion of the phial's energy. Others weren't so lucky. There had been many reports of what felt like reality itself bending for a split-second after the explosion, but that was it. For a phial to actually disappear, reappear and defy gravity was completely new.

"Ah believe ya. What Switch-Axe model do ya use…eh, what's yer name again?"

"Bark, sir. I use the Soulbreaker (P) model. The energy phial is a Dragon Phial." The Guildmaster nodded.

"Bark. Go to the smithy at first light tomorrow and tell him I'd like as many Dragon Phials as he can spare. Make sure they're empty. We're gonna test this area for any other abnormal whatchamacallits. The rest of yeh, dismissed until tomorrow morning. I'll let you off easy for now." The final hunter, a Bowgun Sharpshooter, bowed.

"Thank you, Guildmaster." The four hunters filed out of his office, and quiet engulfed the little room.

**[Sweet Apple Acres, Outskirts of Ponyville, 7:00am SET]**

Applejack trotted back towards the farmhouse, ready for some breakfast after harvesting apples from the orchard. She walked in to the smell of Granny Smith's flapjacks, and her stomach instantly sat up and begged.

"Boy howdy! Them flapjacks smell good, Granny." An old, withered green mare turned towards the sound of Applejack's voice.

"Thank you kindly, Applejack. Would you mind setting the table and wakin' up yer sister? Big Mac's gone to town for a few supplies."

"Not at all, Granny." She put the cups and plates around the table, then started to head upstairs to wake up Applebloom. The universe, however, seemed to have other plans. _**KRA-KOW-KOW-KOW! **_The sound of three explosions, one after another, blew through the farmhouse like a tornado. Applejack's head snapped towards the source of the explosions. "That's where Fluttershy is! Ah'll be back in a little, Granny. Ah think Fluttershy's in trouble!" With that, she ran out of the kitchen to her friend's cottage. '_What in tarnation coulda caused those explosions?_'

**I think we all know the cause of the explosions. You'll find out what happens next chapter. *Evil laughter* And what's this? The Monster Hunter world is still in play? Of course it is. They know next to nothing about Brachydios, and that world holds all the information collected on every single monster ever encountered. All I did was make it riskier for Discord to go there. Also, if you want to know what a Brachydios looks like, just Google Image it. I did the best I could describing the little guy. Total Word Count In Story: 1,347.**

**jsun25, logging off.**


	4. Detonation

**Review Responses:**

**-Guest: It's not a new attack. It's the ambient energy in the phial responding to Discord's magic. We'll cover how Fluttershy deals with the explosions next chapter**

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><p><strong>[Fluttershy's Cottage, Outskirts of Ponyville, 6:58 am SET]<strong>

Angel Bunny hopped to Fluttershy's room, wondering what had hatched last night. Neither he nor the other animals had seen what exactly had come out of the egg, because Fluttershy had forbidden anyone to enter. Or so the pink pony had said. Anyways, the egg had to have hatched around the time all the animals were playing outside, because when Angel came inside with the others, there were only pieces of eggshell laying in some blankets. After letting them in, Fluttershy went straight to bed, with the various animals doing the same. All except Angel. He had looked around the entire house, top to bottom, in all the hiding places he knew of (and then some). Nothing. No new animal. The only place he hadn't looked was Fluttershy's room, but she was sleeping, and he didn't want to disturb her. He figured it could wait until morning.

If only he knew what was coming.

Pushing the door to her room open far enough so that he could get in, the rabbit looked around the room. Nothing out of place. Shrugging, Angel did as he always did in the mornings: thumping his foot to wake Fluttershy. -_We interrupt this program to deliver an important message. The universe would like to state that it had no influence over the following events whatsoever, and so would kindly ask the Fate Police to back the hell off. We now continue our previous program- _The being that sat up wasn't Fluttershy. It was a black-skinned reptile. The reptile looked for the source of the thumping, blinking off sleep. Its eyes found Angel, who had frozen. They stayed like that for a brief amount of time, still as statues. Angel blinked first. The reptile leapt, eyes wide with excitement and bloodlust, saliva trailing from its mouth. Angel scampered out of the way, leaping up onto the bed-side table, knocking over the lamp in the process. The resulting crash woke Fluttershy, who had managed to sleep through Angel's thumping and the reptile slamming into the floor. She sat upright in bed, looking at the lamp, then Angel, who was staring at something with fear and hatred. Strange…he normally reserved that looked for predators and a certain draconequus. She then noticed that the baby was not at the foot of her bed anymore. Cue the freak out. '_Where did he go? Is he hurt? Did somepony take him? I've got to find him! Maybe Angel knows! Oh, I hope he's okay. If anypony's hurt him, I'll set Discord loose on them!' _Fluttershy blinked, a little surprised at that last thought. Would she really let Discord have his way with anypony that hurt the baby wyvern? Not currently important. First things first: find the little guy. She leapt out of bed, instantly spotting the dark reptile. She sighed in relief. He seemed to be fine, despite having just pulled his nub of a horn out of the floor. Looking back to Angel, Fluttershy saw he still wore the same face she first saw when she woke up. She followed his gaze. Angel was glaring at the little lizard. "Angel, what-" Something caught her attention. Three rings of glowing circles, eight each, had faded into view once before fading away again and expanding outwards from where the Brute Wyvern had gotten his horn nub stuck. What happened next had her life flashing before her eyes. After all, it's not every day that twenty-four near-simultaneous explosions tear through your cottage that's housing helpless and injured animals. The shockwave from the combined force of the explosions knocked the yellow pegasus through the window and into the yard.

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Ponyville, General Area, 6:58 am SET]**

It had started out as a normal morning. Businesses had just opened shop, and there was the usual morning rush of colts and fillies to the schoolhouse before they were late. Yes, it was a very peaceful morning. That all changed at exactly 7:00 am. The sound and concussive blast of forceful explosions tore across Ponyville, and while the blasts had weakened from their travel so that they did no damage, the force of the concussive blasts was strong enough to knock down many different items, not to mention break and shatter most of the windows throughout the town. Even Rainbow Dash, who was napping on a cloud far above the ground-based events, got thrown off, waking her up and leaving her wondering what had just hit her. The cyan pony looked around for an assailant, but saw nothing. _'I wonder what that was. Nopony's so fast that I wouldn't see and catch up to them before they escaped. Now then, let's see…mountains, no…Everfree Forest, no way…Ponyville in chaos, probably one of Discord's pranks…pillar of smoke, I hope that's not another dragon…wait…that's…' _Her eyes widened in realization. "FLUTTERSHY!"

~~~~Line Break~~~~

Discord had been helping Twilight and Pinkie organizing the books (they were up to the X's) when the explosive sound and blasts hit Ponyville. He reacted on nothing but instinct. Before either of the ponies with him had registered what happened, Discord had teleported all the residents of Ponyville to Sweet Apple Acres. His big moment was ruined when a farmer ran into him. "Whoops! Sorry, Discord. Ah didn't see ya there." The draconequus groaned at the now aching pain in his back. He stood up, dusting himself off.

"It's quite alright, Applejack. Whatever had you in such a hurry?"

"Ah heard explosions, and they seemed to have come from Fluttershy's place." The spirit looked stunned. Before he could reply, a scream from above cut him off.

"FLUTTERSHY!" He looked up in time to see a rainbow-colored streak fading away. Rainbow Dash had seen something and flown off. But what had…oh. By now, everypony had seen the pillar of smoke. They had all heard Dash's scream. They all had horror filled faces, even Pinkie Pie. All, except one. His face was pure malevolence, just waiting to find whoever had attacked his favorite pony. He growled, ready to tear Equestria apart to find them. Before he could teleport away, Discord felt a hoof touch his talons. It was Twilight.

"Discord, I know you're upset and worried. I am too. But before you go off trying to find who did this, we need to see if Fluttershy's alright. Okay?" The draconequus took a deep breath and nodded his head. "Okay. Can you teleport me and the girls to Fluttershy?"

"Yes. But the moment I find out who did this…don't try to stop me, princess. I won't let anything stand in my way." Twilight looked up at Discord. His eyes were burning with a fury she had rarely seen before. In fact, the last time she saw that fury was when she tried to reveal Chrysalis without any proof. Shining Armor's eyes were just as furious for her accusations against his supposed bride…ah. That was why. Now she understood Discord's anger.

"I won't stop you. Now, please, take us there." He snapped his paw, and the rest of the Mane 6 were whisked away to their friend's house.

~~~~Line Break~~~~

Pain. This new feeling lanced all over his body, and an instinctual thought crossed his mind: _'Wait for your scales to grow in.'_ He managed to shakily stand up, his mind a little fogged. That instinct, he decided, was probably a good one to follow. Next order of business: Where did Mother go? Mother didn't have scales, but she was really close to those loud sounds and forces. _'Explosions. Your main weapon. Caused by the slime on your forearms and horn.'_ Right. Explosions. These instinctual thoughts were helpful. He sniffed around, picking up scents, filing them away as he did so. Smoke and smoldering wood, acrid smell…lingering fiery smell, those explosions most likely…there. Mother's smell, with some smoke mixed in. He followed the scent trail, nearly losing it at one point, before reaching a pile of rubble. Mother was trapped under it struggling to get out. He let out a cry and hurried over to her. She heard him and looked up. "Oh…good…you're…okay…." She was potentially gravely injured, trapped under debris unable to get out, and she was worried about him? He nuzzled her, whimpering quietly. She wrapped her free front leg around him. "I'll be…fine. Discord…can heal me…I hope. You know…I never…named you…any…suggestions?" He tried to from a word, like she was, but it didn't really work out.

"Nnyu…nnyoo…nyook." She gave a small laugh.

"Nuke…I like it…it's a…good name…." She nuzzled him again. "My little Nuke." Nuke whined again. He knew he had caused the explosions, and now Mother was hurt bad. The baby Brachydios hoped that this "Discord" could help Mother. He may have only been a night and a day old, but Nuke couldn't imagine a world without her. From then on, he vowed only to use his explosions in self-defense. There was a flash of white light. Hopefully, help had arrived.

~~~~Line Break~~~~

Rarity felt the familiar push-pull sensation of teleportation as they went from Sweet Apple Acres to the wreck that was once Fluttershy's home. She desperately hoped that Fluttershy was alright. The poor dear, despite having faced so many things, was still easily scared and timid. She whispered to herself, "Sweet Celestia, let her be okay…."

~~~~Line Break~~~~

Nuke wriggled closer to Mother. She had closed her eyes and was breathing, but it was shallow. Six others had appeared after the white flash. Five of them looked like Mother, just differently colored. One other had wings, like Mother, one had a horn like he did, two had neither horns nor wings, while the last one had both. Then there was the sixth other. It looked like a mix of many different creatures, and while Nuke didn't know why, the sixth other had an aura around him. Nuke didn't know how to describe the aura, as he didn't have the words for it. It just felt…wrong, like no matter what, it would always stick out. The pink one spotted them first. "I found her! Over here!" The other five rushed over. At first, their worry for Mother kept them from seeing Nuke. The orange one was the first to notice.

"What in tarnation?!" Her exclamation got the others' attention. Nuke cowered, pressing into Mother as if his life depended on it. "Twilight, please tell me ya know what that is." The purple one frowned.

"I don't. I've never seen it in any of my books before." Her voice…it was familiar. Nuke had to think back to when he was in his egg. There were four voices…Mother's, the scratchy one, the hyper one, and the serious one…the serious one! If Mother had let those three voices near his egg, then that means he could trust them. "I wonder why it's so close to Fluttershy, though." Fluttershy? Oh. That must be what they called Mother. He inched forwards a bit, looking at the purple alicorn. She saw this, and lowered herself to his level. "Hey there, little guy. Are you okay?" Nuke just looked back at Mother, then at Twilight again. His eyes were big and pleading. Twilight felt her heart melt. "Discord, fix Fluttershy up as best as you can. We take her to the hospital afterwards.

"But what about-" The scratchy voice belonged to the weird snake creature.

"Fluttershy and this animal are a bit more important. By the way it's acting, I think it's a baby." The pink one trotted forwards.

"Hi! How are you liking our world so far? Completely different from your world, right? I mean, there aren't any nasty hunters, and you're the only one of your kind here, but other than that, it can't be that different!" Here was the hyper voice. The others stared at the pink pony, Twilight and Discord with more surprise than the others. Twilight spoke again.

"…We'll talk about that later. For now, find any animals you can and bring them here. Discord, take Fluttershy and the baby to the hospital after you do what you can for Fluttershy. Got it?" They all nodded. The weird creature-Discord, Nuke remembered-approached him and Mother. He snapped his paw, and Mother's injuries were gone. He looked at Nuke.

"I don't want anypony freaking out, especially you, so…" He snapped his paw once more, and Nuke fell into a dreamless sleep.

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><p><strong>Ah...eh heh heh...please don't kill me! *hides behind computer* Just put the torches and pitchforks down and I'll explain! I am not the kind of author that kills off a main character! Fluttershy will live! Okay, now that you guys have calmed down, a few more explanations. One, our baby Brachy got named! I figured "Nuke" was a good name for a Brachydios. Two, size proportions. As of right now, at one day and one night old, Nuke is about the size of an average pony. Three, the slime. I figure that since Brachs are born in harsh environments and conditions, their slime attacks are ready for use right after they're born. Kinda like how a dolphin is born knowing how to swim. Four, with that little bit of script from Rarity, I have now done the Mane Six, Discord, and Nukes' POV. Five, the reason Fluttershy is still alive. Nuke just hatched, so his slime isn't as powerful as it would be if he were, say, six months old. Six, word count: 2,060. Biggest chapter yet. Finally, I've put up a poll. Check it out, as it will help me decide what to do next. Okay, I think that's everything. Leave a comment or suggestion and I'll see ya'll next chapter.<strong>

**jsun25, logging off**


	5. Calm Before the Storm

**Hello everyone, and welcome to the fifth chapter for Fluttershy's Nuke! No new reviews this time.  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my Brachydios OC, Nuke**

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><p><strong>[Time transition: Four months later]<br>[Zecora's hut, Everfree Forest, 3:00pm SET]**

Zecora hummed to herself as she stirred the substance in her cauldron. Following the incident with Nuke, the zebra had experimented with different potions and ingredients. Once she had found the right combination of items, she presented the mixture to Fluttershy. The potion would suppress the little one's slime explosions until he was able to control them. Fluttershy was at first skeptical about the idea. Discord had managed to persuade her by examining the potion with his magic, ensuring that nothing would hurt or poison Nuke by accident. Now Zecora made the potion once a month, and it had helped. Whenever Nuke bumped into something with his forearms or developing horn, the only thing that happened was him blinking in surprise. The zebra chuckled to herself. This was hopefully the last time she would have to mix the potion.

Nuke had grown quickly. Whatever world Discord had found him in must have been a harsh one. When he was two months old, Nuke could have looked Celestia in the eye without having to stretch upwards. His scales had grown in, and his horn and head spikes were developed at three months of age. Now, at four months of age, the wyvern had learned to be cautious and gentle with his arms and horn. No longer was he knocking stuff over whenever he tried to help with tasks. Granted, most of Nuke's time was outside, for he had grown enough to not fit in Fluttershy's house. He now had his own shelter next to the cottage, which was where he spent nights and stormy days. Zecora's ears perked up as she heard the door open. '_That must be Fluttershy.' _She dipped a vial into the cauldron.

"Um, hello? Are you home, Zecora?" Zecora trotted to the main room, vial in a pouch.

"I am, my friend. I hope the reason for these visits are close to an end."

"Oh, I think this will be the last one. He's very gentle, making sure not to touch anything with his arms or horn. Maybe when he's old enough, he can help the demolition ponies. But for now, well, he's still a baby." Zecora laughed.

"He is a baby, that much is true. But because of him, my need for the ingredients have gone through the roof!" Fluttershy blushed in embarrassment. Zecora was not the only one who had given supplies to help with Nuke. Many ponies had pitched in once they had heard about his situation. Before taking Fluttershy and Nuke to the hospital, Discord had put Nuke to sleep, then given him a pony form so that no one would ask questions.

When he had arrived with the mare and faux-pony, the nurse had immediately taken them to the infirmary. Another asked Discord what happened, and the spirit spun a story about Nuke appearing at Fluttershy's door, asleep as though somepony had dropped him off there. Not one day after she had taken him in, he said, a Salamander had attacked the cottage for unknown reasons, causing the explosions. The ponies swallowed the story hook, line, and sinker. It spread quickly, and everypony donated items to Fluttershy for Nuke. "I wonder, though, when you are going to tell everypony the truth. It would be best for you to tell them, and not some idiot or sleuth. Take for example, the pony Time Turner. He is a fast learner, and I fear he will find out and alert everypony with a shout: 'It was not a Salamander as we were told, but a creature from another world!'"

"I know I should tell them, but it doesn't feel like the right time. Nuke's pony form helps him get around the town whenever he comes with me, but he's always uncomfortable. I don't want to have to reveal him until he's ready." Zecora saw the determination and protectiveness in her friend's eyes. She had seen this before. She spoke her next words softly.

"You see yourself as his mother, and so love him like no other. It's just a bet, but am I correct?" Fluttershy didn't say anything. She knew that already. Ever since Nuke had hatched from his egg, she felt a determination to protect him like she had never felt before. Once while they were in town, two fillies had been making fun of Nuke's weird, attention-grabbing get up. Besides having a mane, front hooves and horn that glowed an acid green, a clubbed tail, and striking blood-red eyes, his cutie mark was a strange symbol, perhaps some sort of rune. In any case, Nuke, who had yet to learn how to talk in pony form, had run to Fluttershy. What happened next shocked many who witnessed the event.

The normally kind-hearted, timid pegasus had practically exploded on the fillies in anger, berating them for making fun of how somepony looked. Did she need to make fun of how they looked so they would know how they made Nuke feel? The two fillies fearfully backed away from Nuke and his protector. Ever since, no pony had messed with the faux-pony.

"Yes, Zecora. You're right. To him, I am his mother. I see it that way, too." The zebra nodded. In her own way, she understood.

"I'll tell you what. Don't give him the potion this time." Fluttershy stared at her.

"Are you sure?" Zecora smiled.

"As sure as I rhyme."

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Nuke's Shelter, Outskirts of Ponyville, 3:15 pm SET]**

Nuke growled softly. Mother should have been back by now. It normally took her ten minutes to go to the Striped One's home and back. Fifteen had passed. Discord looked up from the book he was reading.

"Oh, stop worrying, you overgrown lizard. Fluttershy will be back soon. She probably just got caught up talking to Zecora." Nuke snorted and let out a hiss of disagreement. The draconequus sighed. "Look, wait another five minutes, and if she's not back by then, I will go get her myself. Do we have a deal, Mr. Brachydios?" Nuke eyed the spirit, and then let out a rumble of assent. He would wait.

Aside from helping Nuke get used to his pony form, Discord had gone back to the Brute Wyvern's world to get as much information as possible. After many attempts, he finally found what he was looking for. Discord had taken the information back to the girls, and they all read up on Nuke's species. Needless to say, they were shocked. Not only did Nuke's species live in a harsh world, they lived in the harshest environment of that world. That had explained many things, such as Nuke's growth. Another thing: Wicked strong explosions. When they found the part on a Brach's slime-powered attacks, well, not much was said on the matter. His armored body was impressive, too. Massive spikes and horn. Obsidian-hard scales that gleamed when polished. All-in-all, Nuke was a force to be reckoned with. They had, however, caught a lucky break.

The Brachydios were infamous for their short, ill-mannered temper. For whatever reason, Nuke didn't have that temper. Whether it was being raised by Fluttershy, or because of Equestria's feel-good nature, or both, they were thankful.

Like Fluttershy, the others hadn't been all that happy when they read that Brachydios were meat eaters. Thankfully, due to Discord giving him a pony form, he could and would eat vegetables and fruit. He preferred meat, but it was now a treat more than anything.

Finally, Fluttershy emerged from the forest. "It's about time. Mr. Impatient here was about to bite my head off." Nuke snorted. Mistake someone's snout for a squeaky toy _one _time and you're marked for life. Fluttershy laughed.

"Good news, Nuke. Zecora said not to give you the potion this time." Nuke's eyes lit up with interest. No more of that nasty liquid? That was definitely worth the extra wait. Fluttershy turned to Discord. "Could you turn Nuke into a pony? I want to try to teach him to talk."

"Of course." With a snap of his talons, Nuke had shifted into his pony form. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find some Poison Joke." And he was gone. Fluttershy just smiled and shook her head at the draconequus' antics. She turned to Nuke.

"You need to learn how to talk, Nuke. You're smart enough to understand what we say, and when you're a pony, you should be able to talk, since you have vocal cords like us. Ready?" Nuke nodded. Ever since he attempted to imitate Mother when she was asking him about a name, he had wanted to be able to talk like the ponies could. "Good. Let's get started."

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Changeling Hive, Everfree Forest, 3:17 pm SET]**

Changelings swarmed towards the main chamber, eager to hear what their queen had to say. Many were hoping for a second chance at the Crystal Empire, while others wished to go after the six ponies that had fought back, leaving many injured. They would not have to wait long to find out. Chrysalis had emerged.

"My loyal children. No doubt many of you remember our defeat at the Crystal Empire." Hisses of displeasure filled the air. "I know. I, too, am unhappy at those events. This time, however, will be different. We won't be invading the Crystal Empire; it is too well-protected." The multitude looked at each other in confusion. Where were they headed then? Chrysalis's eyes gleamed. "Our new target…is _Ponyville!"_

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[-Error. Unable to determine space/time placement-]  
>[-Anomaly detected. Presence detected. Presence should not exist-]<strong>

A storm was approaching Ponyville. A storm similar to the one that had hit the Crystal Empire. Except Ponyville had no shield surrounding it.

A dark figure watched the events unfolding in both worlds. To the figure, they were nothing more than chess figurines, and it was the chessmaster, controlling both sides of the board. The figure chuckled. Normally, the ponies would be crushed by an unexpected invasion. Thanks to the figure, though, they had a wild card: the Brachydios. _Let us see what happens now that they have a Brute Wyvern on their side._ It chuckled once more. _Let the game…begin._

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><p><strong>And, we're done. This chapter was made to tell what happened after the blast, and to set up for the next chapter. After I finish that arc, I'll go along with the series, starting with the episode after Twilight became a princess. There's a cookie for whoever can guess the two fillies, or whoever can catch the reference I threw in. Also, the fanfic picture is Nuke's pony form. Thanks for reading, review, and I'll see ya next chapter!<strong>

**jsun25, logging off**


	6. School

**Hello, and welcome to the sixth chapter of Fluttershy's Nuke. I had much fun while writing this, so I hope you enjoy it. Please note: At this point in time, Nuke has matured both mentally and physically very quickly, as Brachydios don't tend to live for long. He'll mature at a pony's speed while he's a pony, and vice versa.**

**Han-Ko: You're welcome! This has been a fun project for me, so I'm glad I'm not the only one that likes it.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my Brachydios OC, Nuke.**

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><p><strong>[Time transition: Three weeks later]<br>[Ponyville schoolhouse, Ponyville, 7:48 am SET]**

Nuke stood in front of the schoolhouse, staring at the accursed building. Behind him, Fluttershy sighed, causing the faux-pony to turn and look at her.

"Nuke, you have to go to school. It's the law, and I don't want you to get in trouble." Nuke looked at the ground and mumbled something. "What was that?"

"Don't wanna." Yes, Nuke could talk in his pony form. He had learned enough of the language to be able to talk as a foal around five or six could, which was the general age of the foals that started to attend Ponyville's school. Speaking of, the mayor had given Nuke time to settle into Ponyville, and now that time was up. "It's too scary. What if nopony likes me?"

"I know for a fact that there are three little fillies in there who will gladly be friends with you. Just remember, if anypony asks about your cutie mark-"

"It's because I can imitate a creature nopony's ever heard about, I know." Nuke could indeed do just that. While he couldn't use his slime while he was a pony, the Brachydios could use magic, as he was a unicorn. His magic more than made up for the lack of slime. Whenever he activated it, one of two things happened. Either an illusion surrounded him, making him look like a mini-Brach, or he was able to temporarily enhance his voice. The voice-enhancer had been discovered when an Ursa Minor got curious about the animals. The appearance startled Nuke, whose magic activated in response. He had screamed as loud as he could, and the Minor was actually turned away by the soundwaves from the roar. His illusion happened when a monkey had tried to take one of his toys. In a flash of acid green light, the faux-pony had been replaced by a mini-Brach. Twilight had confirmed the use of illusion magic.

"And your tail-"

"Is a side result of my magic. I got it, alright?" Fluttershy couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face. Her little Nuke was growing up. Normally Brachydios had short lifespans due to either hunters or the hostile environment they lived in. Nuke, however, would live for quite a while, or so Discord had assured her.

"You'll be fine. I'll see you later, okay?" Though he didn't want to, he heard himself reply positively to his adoptive mother. Swallowing, he walked into the school.

_'Showtime.'_

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Ponyville Schoolhouse, Classroom, 7:58 am SET]**

There was always background chatter before Cheerilee started class. However, it was rarely on the same topic. Today was one of those rare days, for there was a new student joining the class. Cheerilee cleared her throat, causing all conversation to cease.

"Class, we have a new student joining us today. Go on, dear. Tell us your name." The new student shuffled his front hooves before speaking.

"I'm Nuke." Cheerilee smiled.

"We're glad to have you here, Nuke." She turned her attention to the class, who were whispering amongst themselves opinions about Nuke. "Does anypony have any questions for Nuke?" One colt raised his hoof.

"What's with your tail?" The foals that hadn't noticed Nuke's abnormal tail saw it now. Many were wondering the same thing.

"It's a side effect of my magic." This time a filly raised her hoof.

"What's your cutie mark mean?" The faux-colt sighed, as though he had been asked this many times before.

"I can imitate a creature that's very secluded. Discord called it a Brachydios." At the mention of the Lord of Chaos's name, the classroom exploded into questions. Cheerilee had trouble getting the class under control. Nuke raised an eyebrow. He hadn't been expecting that reaction to Discord's name.

"Class, please! Fluttershy adopted Nuke after he appeared on her doorstep. She has the closest relationship with Discord, so it's only natural that Nuke has met him. Now then, one more question." For an amount of time, nopony raised their hooves. However, a filly with a yellow coat and red bow in her mane eventually put her hoof in the air. "Yes, Applebloom?"

"Can ya show us what a Brachy-whatever looks like, Nuke?" Nuke looked towards Cheerilee, who nodded her permission. The faux-colt started trotting out the door.

"We'd best go outside."

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Schoolhouse playgrounds, Ponyville Schoolhouse, 8:05 am SET]**

The class followed Nuke to the playground area. Upon arrival, he went some distance from them, making sure that he'd have time and room to react should the voice-enhancer activate instead of the illusion spell.

"Why'd ya have us come outside, Nuke?" Nuke jumped. The filly from before-Applebloom, if he remembered correctly-had managed to sneak up on him. He turned to her.

"Don't do that! And I had us come outside because I don't know which spell will activate! Now please, go back to the others." Slightly crestfallen, Applebloom trotted back to Scoootaloo and Sweetie Bell. Diamond Tiara snickered.

"No surprise he doesn't want to talk to you, blank flank." Nopony saw Nuke's ears twitch at the insult sent to Applebloom. A Brachydios has exceptional hearing, and that combined with a pony's ears meant there was little he couldn't hear as a pony.

"You know, when you first met me, you didn't seem to care about the fact I had a cutie mark. You seemed more interested in my…what did you call it again? Oh, yeah. _Freakish looks_." Diamond Tiara stiffened as Nuke turned and looked at her, eyes blazing with fury that a normal foal wouldn't have. Nuke, however was no normal foal. The infamous Brachydios temper was starting to boil. When she didn't respond, Nuke snorted, then focused on his magic. The others looked on as his acid-green horn began to glow. Nuke ignored their looks of amazement, and for once, focused on his illusion.

'_Please…please…illusion magic is what I want…'_

A flash of acid-green light, and the faux-colt disappeared, replaced by a reptilian creature that stood on two legs. The resemblance between Nuke and the creature was uncanny. His magic had affected him more than anypony had realized. The reptile, presumably a Brachydios, met the amazed gazes of his classmates, whose eyes widened when another flash of light happened, and Nuke was turned back to his faux-pony self. He stared back at them, a bored look in his eyes.

"What?"

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Ponyville Schoolhouse, Ponyville, 3:00 pm SET]**

The rest of the day went by normally after that. Nuke quickly trotted outside, eager to see his mother after being away from her for so long. However, that was not to be, as Fluttershy was nowhere to be found. Thinking that she simply hadn't arrived yet and would be arriving soon, he sat down on the steps and waited. Soon, the other fillies and colts had come outside as well, most walking home, while others went off to play with their friends. The faux-pony was so engrossed in looking for Fluttershy that he did not hear the three fillies that approached him from behind.

"Hi!" The cheerful greeting made him jump, his Brachydios instincts flaring up, only to be suppressed as he saw it was just Applebloom and two others.

"What is it with fillies and sneaking up on me?" he muttered under his breath. The orange pegasus chuckled nervously.

"Sorry. We didn't mean to sneak up on you. You were sitting by yourself, so we thought you might like some company."

"And Ah never did get a chance to thank ya properly fer tellin' off Diamond Tiara like ya did." Nuke shrugged.

"Compared to what my mom did, she got off easy." Right then, there was a flash of bright light, and Discord appeared in front of the four foals.

"Nuke, there you are! Why are you still here?"

"I'm waiting for Mom. Why isn't she here yet?" Discord shrugged.

"Beats me. Let me take a quick look." The spirit traced a circle in the air, then removed said circle, and quickly glanced at what Fluttershy was doing, then back at the fillies and faux-pony. Discord then did a double-take, and stuck his head into the hole, gripping the edges. He pulled his head back out. "…Either she's giving a bear a massage, or she's performing a half-nelson on the bear. Whichever it may be, looks like she's busy." Nuke's face fell. Seeing this, Sweetie Bell spoke up.

"Why don't you come with us, Nuke? Maybe you could help us, seeing as you have your cutie mark and all." Nuke looked up at the unicorn filly.

"You…want me…to come with you?" Sweetie Bell rapidly nodded her head.

"Sure! After all, Fluttershy's going to be busy a lot, so you need SOMEpony to play with. How about it?" Nuke turned his gaze to Discord, who was still watching Fluttershy and the bear.

"…Okay." The three fillies squealed with delight, which in turn caught Discord's attention by nearly deafening him.

"EYOUCH! Keep it down will, you? Not all of us have normal ears instead of chaos-enhanced ones, you know."

"Sorry, Discord!" The three of them chorusing the reply together had Nuke wondering if this wasn't the first time the three had done something to the spirit.

"What's going on, anyways?" Nuke trotted forwards.

"I'm going to go with them. Is that alright?" Discord waved a paw.

"It's fine. I'll let Fluttershy know where you are. Have fun." Before he could reply, Scootaloo grabbed him, and dragged the poor faux-pony away. Applebloom and Sweetie Bell ran after her.

"Scootaloo! Wait for us!"

"Ah don't think she's gonna slow down. Jest keep runnin'!"

"Can do!" The two fillies ran side-by-side in silence for a while, making sure to keep Scootaloo in their sights at all times. It wasn't long before Sweetie Bell spoke up again. "What do you make of Nuke? He seems like a nice colt."

"He does, doesn't he? That illusion is purty cool, too."

"That reminds me. Why did he snap at you on the playground?"

"He said somethin' about not knowing which spell would activate, Ah think." Sweetie Bell let out a small "Oh," and the two continued running. It was then the unicorn filly noticed something. Applebloom wasn't watching Scootaloo. She was watching Nuke. Sweetie grinned. Time for some fun.

"Nuke's cute, don't you think?"

"Yeah, he- Ah mean, what're ya talkin' about?" Sweetie's grin grew bigger.

"Busted." Applebloom blushed slightly, and didn't look at Sweetie.

"A-ah don't know what yer sayin'."

"You like Nuke, don't you?"

"N-no, A-ah don't!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!" Sweetie shrugged.

"Alright then. I guess I'll be asking him to be my special somepony come Hearts and Hooves day."

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT, YA COLTSNATCHER! HE'S MINE, YA HEAR?" Victory. Sweetie waited for Applebloom to realize what she just shouted. When it caught up to her, the earth filly blushed furiously, and didn't meet Sweetie's triumphant look. Lucky for her, Nuke was too busy with dodging as many obstacles as possible when being dragged, as he did not want a concussion, and so wasn't listening to the two fillies' conversation.

"Oh, don't worry. I won't tell him. That's your job."

"B-but Ah don't even know if he likes me the same way. He did jest meet us."

"True. Just wait a little. Maybe a week or two."

_WHUD_

The sound caused the two fillies to look at the source. They quickly screeched to a stop, as Scootaloo was standing in the way of Sweetie and Applebloom.

"What happened?" Scootaloo, smiled sheepishly.

"I, um, may have been running too fast when I stopped and let go of Nuke." She stepped aside to reveal Nuke, who was now unconscious and embedded in the tree that held the CMC clubhouse aloft. The three fillies looked at one another nervously.

"So…who's going to tell Fluttershy?"

* * *

><p><strong>Poor Nuke. Applebloom has a crush on him without the guy knowing, and he got thrown into a tree. *Evil chuckle* But seriously, hasn't at least one of those happened to all of us? And yes, I am pairing Nuke and Applebloom. I don't know why, but this makes sense for some reason. SPOILER ALERT: I am posting a beta chapter for the sequel of this story. It's more to see what the responses are to the story. It does contain spoilers for the ending of this story, so read at your own risk. As always, review, or leave an idea for a later chapter.<strong>

**Cookie for whoever spots The Incredibles reference.**

**jsun25, logging off**


	7. His True Face

**And, we're back, ladies and gentlemen. This the seventh and currently longest chapter of Fluttershy's Nuke. I am proud to announce that My finals are over for the first trimester of the school year, and I have survived!  
><strong>

**Han-Ko: You and me both, buddy.**

**Guest: Nuke can't use his slime while he's a pony. Also, the picture came from DeviantArt.**

* * *

><p><strong>[Outside of the CMC Clubhouse, Outskirts of Ponyville, 3:05 pm SET]<strong>

After they pulled Nuke free of the tree's trunk, it had been decided that Sweetie and Scootaloo would go and face Fluttershy's wrath together. In the unicorn filly's mind, this would give Applebloom some alone time with Nuke, should he wake up. In Applebloom's mind, this was Sweetie's way of not-so-subtly saying to give it a go. Scootaloo couldn't care less, as long as she wasn't alone when telling Fluttershy she may have knocked out her adoptive son and given him an extreme headache/concussion.

Applebloom sighed. Her friends had been gone for about three minutes now, and Nuke still hadn't woken up. His breathing was deep and rhythmatic, as though he were asleep and not knocked out. She smiled. Sweetie Bell was right, he was cute, even with that strange, clubbed tail of his. The earth filly sat down next to him, silently pleading him to wake up. Suddenly, her ears twitched at a slight sound. It was in the lower vocal range, so neither her friends or Fluttershy had arrived yet…so what was it? Turning her head towards the source of the sound, Applebloom let out a gasp, and her pupils shrank in fear. Timberwolves.

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Nuke's dreamscape, Volcano, Unknown time]**

A nightmare. When Nuke saw the volcanic area around him, that was his first thought. He looked around, wondering how he had gotten from the forest to here. A rhythmic sound filled his pony ears.

_Thud…thud…thud…thud…_

He turned, and the faux-pony's jaw dropped. It was a Brachydios. The Brach seemed to take no notice of him, and continued in his direction without even looking at him. It wasn't until the Brach was a few steps away that Nuke realized something. It was about to step on him. He shouted to get the monster's attention, but either it couldn't hear him or was ignoring him. Without anytime to move, Nuke curled up into a ball, praying to whatever deity was listening that he wouldn't be killed. Right before the foot descended, he shut his eyes, waiting for the impact… … … …where was the foot? Nuke opened his eyes and gasped. He was in the foot, as though he were insubstantial. The Brachydios had stopped moving, and was facing the direction it had come from. It let out a low growl as four figures appeared.

_N…ke…uke…ke up! W…ke…p!_

The faux-pony shook his head at the offending noise. Whatever it was, it was distracting him from what was happening. The Brach was now engaged in combat against the four two-legged figures.

_Wak…p! Nu…e!_

Again with the noise? Why couldn't it just go away? Nuke kept watching the battle, and went slack-jawed when the Brach, wounded from the four two-legs, set off an explosive chain that sent something flying off the cliff. It was an egg. He knew that he came from a different world; Fluttershy and Discord had told him on his two-month birthday. Discord also told him how he came across his egg. Could this possibly be what had happened?

_NUKE! WAKE UP!_

The cry tore through his head, and the dreamscape faded to black as he was forcefully pulled from the world his mind had created.

**[Outside of the CMC Clubhouse, Outskirts of Ponyville, 3:06 pm]**

Applebloom kept one eye on the Timberwolves, making sure they didn't get too close as she did her best to wake Nuke from his unconscious state. Finally, he woke up, looking around in a confused fashion.

"Wha-? What's going-?"

"TIMBERWOLVES!" Whipping his head towards Applebloom, Nuke saw she was shaking with fear and pointing at something. Following her hoof, the faux-pony saw what she was pointing at. Fluttershy had told him about the Timberwolves, but he had never actually seen one before. Nuke fired up his magic, this time focusing on his voice enhancing spell. A mini-Brach wouldn't be enough to scare these bad boys off.

"Go away!" he shouted. The Timberwolves glanced at one another with a mixture of confusion and amusement. This strange little colt was telling them what to do? They continued their advance. Nuke took a deep breath. "I said…GO AWAAA**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!**" The faux-pony felt the voice enhancing spell flow through his vocal cords, strengthening them to first withstand the volume and then to be able to use that volume. An Ursa Minor was simply turned away by the force from the sound waves. The Timberwolves were sent flying, and some were even reduced to twigs on the spot. Nuke cut the scream off, panting both from the need for oxygen and the drain of the spell. He looked to Applebloom, whose jaw had just about hit the ground. He spoke, voice a little rough from the strain put on it. "See why…I had you stay back *cough* on the playground?" Next thing he knew, the filly had tackled him in a bone-crushing hug, as though she were stranded in the ocean and he were floating debris to latch onto.

"Nuke! Yer okay!" A strange feeling went across Nuke's face and inside his belly. When Applebloom wrapped her forelegs around him, warmth, tingly in a pleasant way, spread across his face and the inside of his stomach. He gingerly hugged her back, and Applebloom, who was already beginning to blush from the realization that she was hugging the colt she liked, nearly turned the same color as Big Mac.

"Of course I am. Are you?" Applebloom nodded, not trusting herself to speak. "Good." Nuke pulled out of the hug, looking around for the other two, which gave Applebloom time to try and get her body under control. "Where are Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell?"

"They went to go get Fluttershy after ya slammed inta th' tree." The faux-pony took a glance at the tree, which now had a Nuke-shaped hole in the trunk. "Ah know Scootaloo is a fast runner, but still, that's just ridiculous."

"It's a good thing I have a hard head then." Applebloom giggled, which caused the warmth to make its rounds about his body again. To his credit, his coat had some of the protective qualities his scales had, including hiding most colorations in the face, so Applebloom didn't notice the red that dusted itself across Nuke's face.

"Well, Ah'm glad yer all right, Nuke. Scootaloo was shakin' with fear when she and Sweetie went to go get yer mom."

"I can't imagine why." The faux-pony's words were dripping with sarcasm, and soon both foals were laughing their heads off. The warmth inside Nuke intensified, and his stomach lurched. What was wrong with him? Was he sick? He shrugged it off. Fluttershy could tell him.

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Fluttershy's Cottage, Outskirts of Ponyville, 3:06 pm SET]**

"You WHAT?" Scootaloo flinched, praying to Celestia that she wouldn't die before she got her cutie mark.

"It was an accident, Fluttershy. Scootaloo was just going too fast, that's all." Fluttershy closed her eyes and put a hoof to her forehead, feeling a migraine coming on. Foals will be foals, after all.

"You managed to pull him out of the tree?" The two fillies nodded. "You left Applebloom with him?" They nodded again. "Well, as long as he isn't hurt too badly, then you're off the hook. Just make sure it doesn't happen again." Scootaloo let out the breath she had been holding. That would be easy. No more dragging Nuke. Fluttershy spread her wings, preparing to go and get Nuke. "You two stay here. I'll be back with Nuke and Applebloom, and then you can all-" She was cut off as a screech filled the air, but it didn't come from anything at her cottage. Scootaloo's eyes widened as a realization hit her.

"That's coming from where we left Applebloom and Nuke!" Fluttershy was gone before Sweetie could form a response. The yellow Pegasus tore across the sky at speeds Rainbow Dash would've been proud of, screaming the name of the one she cherished the most.

"NUUUKE!" Discord poked his head out of the cottage.

"What's going on? Can't a draconequus get any sleep around here?"

"Two things! First, it's the middle of the afternoon! Second, we think Nuke and Applebloom are in trouble! Fluttershy just now flew off like she was shot from a cannon!" Discord's face hardened. Though he wouldn't admit it, Fluttershy was dear to him, and he would protect her to the best of his abilities.

"Where are they?"

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Outside of the CMC Clubhouse, Outskirts of Ponyville, 3:07 pm SET]**

Nuke's ears twitched. He immediately stopped laughing, waving at Applebloom to do the same. "What is it, Nuke?"

"Shh!" Nuke stared at the treeline, ears shoved forwards, certain he had heard something akin to heavy breathing. At first he thought he had been hearing things. Then the eyes appeared. They were a Timberwolves' eyes, no doubt. But why were they so big and so high up? The creature stepped out of the treeline, glaring at the two fillies. Nuke gulped as his eyes widened. It was an Alpha Timberwolf. Applebloom instantly appeared by his side, pressing into him for comfort.

"N-nuke? Please tell me ya can do that screamin' thing again." Nuke shook his head. "Then what can we do?" Nuke opened his mouth to reply, but before he got the chance, the Alpha pounced. Right as it was about to get them, a flash of white light sparked in between the ponies and the Alpha, blinding and deafening the wolf. Nuke whipped his head around.

"Discord! Where are you? Help us!"

"_I can only do one more thing, little Nuke. Your true form_."

"B-but what about-"

"_We'll worry about that when we get to it. If necessary, I'll wipe her memory of the event!"_

"I-I-"

"_Good luck, little Nuke_." Nuke looked at Applebloom, who was slowly backing away from the Alpha as it began to regain its senses.

"Applebloom." She turned to look at him, and was stunned by the fear in his eyes. But the fear wasn't directed at the Alpha Timberwolf. It was directed at rejection. She had seen that look in her own eyes when she looked in the mirror before she had met her filly friends. Every day before school, when she went to brush her teeth, she would do her best to not look in the mirror. Now that she had friends, that look was gone. But now…

"What is it, Nuke?" He opened his mouth to respond, but never got the chance. Once again, Discord's chaos magic flashed, reverting Nuke back to the form he first knew. He was, once again, a true Brachydios. Applebloom nearly fainted. This was different from Nuke's illusion, she could tell. Nuke looked back at her, eyes filled with emotional pain. The Alpha Timberwolf roared, grabbing Nuke's attention. His eyes cleared, and this time filled up with rage. Things would have been just fine if this stupid wolf hadn't decided to try and get them. Now one of his only friends was going to stay as far away as she possibly could, and it was all this stupid. Wolf's. Fault! As Nuke's rage filled him, he roared back at the Alpha, challenging it despite the size difference. Once again, a warmth spread across Nuke's body, except this time, it was not a pleasant warmth, oh no. It was the fury of someone who believed he had just lost something he considered close to him. As with the pleasant warmth, pigmentation spread across him, this time a poisonous yellow, turning his horn, forearms, spikes, and part of his body to the color. He charged at the Alpha and at the last moment, leapt towards the wolf. Nuke's forearms plowed into the wooden beast, and when contact was made, the slime mold on his forearms sparked a chemical reaction, sending a message to spontaneously combust on whatever it was it made contact with. The force of the explosions rocked the Alpha Timberwolf, who fell back whimpering, its body smoking and on fire in various places. Nuke roared again, and remembering what he had seen the Brach do in his dream, thrust his horn into the ground only to rip it out of the ground in the direction of the Alpha. The Alpha was close enough that the chain of explosions tore it to shreds, incinerating the wooden wolf to ashes. Nuke snorted, and turned his body so that he could kick dust over the remains of the beast. Satisfied with his victory, he slowly exhaled, knowing what was coming next. Discord's chaos magic washed over him, and he was a pony once more. "N-nuke? What was-?"

"My true form." Applebloom blinked.

"B-but Ah thought i-it was just an il-llusion."

"…"

"N-nuke?" Without warning, he ran off, surprising Applebloom. "Nuke! Wait!" She ran after him, wondering why he had run. Not six seconds later, Fluttershy alighted in the clearing, praying Nuke was alright. Neither Nuke nor Applebloom were in sight. The only thing that stood out was the line of charred and blackened grasses, ash, and a few small pieces of Timberwolf wood.

"Nuke? Applebloom?"

"They aren't here, Fluttershy." The yellow pegasus turned at the sound of Discord's voice. The draconequus was not looking very happy. He seemed upset, almost. "I…may have made a mistake."

* * *

><p><strong>The italics in Nuke's dream was Applebloom trying to wake him up. The italics during the Alpha scene was Discord talking to Nuke via telepathy. Please don't kill me for this cliffhanger. Now that a new tri is starting, my time on a computer is going to be significantly less since I have no computer-oriented classes. I promise I will do my best to update this fanfiction. Feel free to ask any questions about this story. Thank you.<strong>

**jsun25, logging off**


	8. Signs of the Future

**And, we're back, ladies and gentlemen. This the seventh and currently longest chapter of Fluttershy's Nuke. I am proud to announce that My finals are over for the first trimester of the school year, and I have survived!  
><strong>

**Han-Ko: You and me both, buddy.**

**Guest: Nuke can't use his slime while he's a pony. Also, the picture came from DeviantArt.**

* * *

><p><strong>[Outside of the CMC Clubhouse, Outskirts of Ponyville, 3:05 pm SET]<strong>

After they pulled Nuke free of the tree's trunk, it had been decided that Sweetie and Scootaloo would go and face Fluttershy's wrath together. In the unicorn filly's mind, this would give Applebloom some alone time with Nuke, should he wake up. In Applebloom's mind, this was Sweetie's way of not-so-subtly saying to give it a go. Scootaloo couldn't care less, as long as she wasn't alone when telling Fluttershy she may have knocked out her adoptive son and given him an extreme headache/concussion.

Applebloom sighed. Her friends had been gone for about three minutes now, and Nuke still hadn't woken up. His breathing was deep and rhythmatic, as though he were asleep and not knocked out. She smiled. Sweetie Bell was right, he was cute, even with that strange, clubbed tail of his. The earth filly sat down next to him, silently pleading him to wake up. Suddenly, her ears twitched at a slight sound. It was in the lower vocal range, so neither her friends or Fluttershy had arrived yet…so what was it? Turning her head towards the source of the sound, Applebloom let out a gasp, and her pupils shrank in fear. Timberwolves.

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Nuke's dreamscape, Volcano, Unknown time]**

A nightmare. When Nuke saw the volcanic area around him, that was his first thought. He looked around, wondering how he had gotten from the forest to here. A rhythmic sound filled his pony ears.

_Thud…thud…thud…thud…_

He turned, and the faux-pony's jaw dropped. It was a Brachydios. The Brach seemed to take no notice of him, and continued in his direction without even looking at him. It wasn't until the Brach was a few steps away that Nuke realized something. It was about to step on him. He shouted to get the monster's attention, but either it couldn't hear him or was ignoring him. Without anytime to move, Nuke curled up into a ball, praying to whatever deity was listening that he wouldn't be killed. Right before the foot descended, he shut his eyes, waiting for the impact… … … …where was the foot? Nuke opened his eyes and gasped. He was in the foot, as though he were insubstantial. The Brachydios had stopped moving, and was facing the direction it had come from. It let out a low growl as four figures appeared.

_N…ke…uke…ke up! W…ke…p!_

The faux-pony shook his head at the offending noise. Whatever it was, it was distracting him from what was happening. The Brach was now engaged in combat against the four two-legged figures.

_Wak…p! Nu…e!_

Again with the noise? Why couldn't it just go away? Nuke kept watching the battle, and went slack-jawed when the Brach, wounded from the four two-legs, set off an explosive chain that sent something flying off the cliff. It was an egg. He knew that he came from a different world; Fluttershy and Discord had told him on his two-month birthday. Discord also told him how he came across his egg. Could this possibly be what had happened?

_NUKE! WAKE UP!_

The cry tore through his head, and the dreamscape faded to black as he was forcefully pulled from the world his mind had created.

**[Outside of the CMC Clubhouse, Outskirts of Ponyville, 3:06 pm]**

Applebloom kept one eye on the Timberwolves, making sure they didn't get too close as she did her best to wake Nuke from his unconscious state. Finally, he woke up, looking around in a confused fashion.

"Wha-? What's going-?"

"TIMBERWOLVES!" Whipping his head towards Applebloom, Nuke saw she was shaking with fear and pointing at something. Following her hoof, the faux-pony saw what she was pointing at. Fluttershy had told him about the Timberwolves, but he had never actually seen one before. Nuke fired up his magic, this time focusing on his voice enhancing spell. A mini-Brach wouldn't be enough to scare these bad boys off.

"Go away!" he shouted. The Timberwolves glanced at one another with a mixture of confusion and amusement. This strange little colt was telling them what to do? They continued their advance. Nuke took a deep breath. "I said…GO AWAAA**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!**" The faux-pony felt the voice enhancing spell flow through his vocal cords, strengthening them to first withstand the volume and then to be able to use that volume. An Ursa Minor was simply turned away by the force from the sound waves. The Timberwolves were sent flying, and some were even reduced to twigs on the spot. Nuke cut the scream off, panting both from the need for oxygen and the drain of the spell. He looked to Applebloom, whose jaw had just about hit the ground. He spoke, voice a little rough from the strain put on it. "See why…I had you stay back *cough* on the playground?" Next thing he knew, the filly had tackled him in a bone-crushing hug, as though she were stranded in the ocean and he were floating debris to latch onto.

"Nuke! Yer okay!" A strange feeling went across Nuke's face and inside his belly. When Applebloom wrapped her forelegs around him, warmth, tingly in a pleasant way, spread across his face and the inside of his stomach. He gingerly hugged her back, and Applebloom, who was already beginning to blush from the realization that she was hugging the colt she liked, nearly turned the same color as Big Mac.

"Of course I am. Are you?" Applebloom nodded, not trusting herself to speak. "Good." Nuke pulled out of the hug, looking around for the other two, which gave Applebloom time to try and get her body under control. "Where are Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell?"

"They went to go get Fluttershy after ya slammed inta th' tree." The faux-pony took a glance at the tree, which now had a Nuke-shaped hole in the trunk. "Ah know Scootaloo is a fast runner, but still, that's just ridiculous."

"It's a good thing I have a hard head then." Applebloom giggled, which caused the warmth to make its rounds about his body again. To his credit, his coat had some of the protective qualities his scales had, including hiding most colorations in the face, so Applebloom didn't notice the red that dusted itself across Nuke's face.

"Well, Ah'm glad yer all right, Nuke. Scootaloo was shakin' with fear when she and Sweetie went to go get yer mom."

"I can't imagine why." The faux-pony's words were dripping with sarcasm, and soon both foals were laughing their heads off. The warmth inside Nuke intensified, and his stomach lurched. What was wrong with him? Was he sick? He shrugged it off. Fluttershy could tell him.

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Fluttershy's Cottage, Outskirts of Ponyville, 3:06 pm SET]**

"You WHAT?" Scootaloo flinched, praying to Celestia that she wouldn't die before she got her cutie mark.

"It was an accident, Fluttershy. Scootaloo was just going too fast, that's all." Fluttershy closed her eyes and put a hoof to her forehead, feeling a migraine coming on. Foals will be foals, after all.

"You managed to pull him out of the tree?" The two fillies nodded. "You left Applebloom with him?" They nodded again. "Well, as long as he isn't hurt too badly, then you're off the hook. Just make sure it doesn't happen again." Scootaloo let out the breath she had been holding. That would be easy. No more dragging Nuke. Fluttershy spread her wings, preparing to go and get Nuke. "You two stay here. I'll be back with Nuke and Applebloom, and then you can all-" She was cut off as a screech filled the air, but it didn't come from anything at her cottage. Scootaloo's eyes widened as a realization hit her.

"That's coming from where we left Applebloom and Nuke!" Fluttershy was gone before Sweetie could form a response. The yellow Pegasus tore across the sky at speeds Rainbow Dash would've been proud of, screaming the name of the one she cherished the most.

"NUUUKE!" Discord poked his head out of the cottage.

"What's going on? Can't a draconequus get any sleep around here?"

"Two things! First, it's the middle of the afternoon! Second, we think Nuke and Applebloom are in trouble! Fluttershy just now flew off like she was shot from a cannon!" Discord's face hardened. Though he wouldn't admit it, Fluttershy was dear to him, and he would protect her to the best of his abilities.

"Where are they?"

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Outside of the CMC Clubhouse, Outskirts of Ponyville, 3:07 pm SET]**

Nuke's ears twitched. He immediately stopped laughing, waving at Applebloom to do the same. "What is it, Nuke?"

"Shh!" Nuke stared at the treeline, ears shoved forwards, certain he had heard something akin to heavy breathing. At first he thought he had been hearing things. Then the eyes appeared. They were a Timberwolves' eyes, no doubt. But why were they so big and so high up? The creature stepped out of the treeline, glaring at the two fillies. Nuke gulped as his eyes widened. It was an Alpha Timberwolf. Applebloom instantly appeared by his side, pressing into him for comfort.

"N-nuke? Please tell me ya can do that screamin' thing again." Nuke shook his head. "Then what can we do?" Nuke opened his mouth to reply, but before he got the chance, the Alpha pounced. Right as it was about to get them, a flash of white light sparked in between the ponies and the Alpha, blinding and deafening the wolf. Nuke whipped his head around.

"Discord! Where are you? Help us!"

"_I can only do one more thing, little Nuke. Your true form_."

"B-but what about-"

"_We'll worry about that when we get to it. If necessary, I'll wipe her memory of the event!"_

"I-I-"

"_Good luck, little Nuke_." Nuke looked at Applebloom, who was slowly backing away from the Alpha as it began to regain its senses.

"Applebloom." She turned to look at him, and was stunned by the fear in his eyes. But the fear wasn't directed at the Alpha Timberwolf. It was directed at rejection. She had seen that look in her own eyes when she looked in the mirror before she had met her filly friends. Every day before school, when she went to brush her teeth, she would do her best to not look in the mirror. Now that she had friends, that look was gone. But now…

"What is it, Nuke?" He opened his mouth to respond, but never got the chance. Once again, Discord's chaos magic flashed, reverting Nuke back to the form he first knew. He was, once again, a true Brachydios. Applebloom nearly fainted. This was different from Nuke's illusion, she could tell. Nuke looked back at her, eyes filled with emotional pain. The Alpha Timberwolf roared, grabbing Nuke's attention. His eyes cleared, and this time filled up with rage. Things would have been just fine if this stupid wolf hadn't decided to try and get them. Now one of his only friends was going to stay as far away as she possibly could, and it was all this stupid. Wolf's. Fault! As Nuke's rage filled him, he roared back at the Alpha, challenging it despite the size difference. Once again, a warmth spread across Nuke's body, except this time, it was not a pleasant warmth, oh no. It was the fury of someone who believed he had just lost something he considered close to him. As with the pleasant warmth, pigmentation spread across him, this time a poisonous yellow, turning his horn, forearms, spikes, and part of his body to the color. He charged at the Alpha and at the last moment, leapt towards the wolf. Nuke's forearms plowed into the wooden beast, and when contact was made, the slime mold on his forearms sparked a chemical reaction, sending a message to spontaneously combust on whatever it was it made contact with. The force of the explosions rocked the Alpha Timberwolf, who fell back whimpering, its body smoking and on fire in various places. Nuke roared again, and remembering what he had seen the Brach do in his dream, thrust his horn into the ground only to rip it out of the ground in the direction of the Alpha. The Alpha was close enough that the chain of explosions tore it to shreds, incinerating the wooden wolf to ashes. Nuke snorted, and turned his body so that he could kick dust over the remains of the beast. Satisfied with his victory, he slowly exhaled, knowing what was coming next. Discord's chaos magic washed over him, and he was a pony once more. "N-nuke? What was-?"

"My true form." Applebloom blinked.

"B-but Ah thought i-it was just an il-llusion."

"…"

"N-nuke?" Without warning, he ran off, surprising Applebloom. "Nuke! Wait!" She ran after him, wondering why he had run. Not six seconds later, Fluttershy alighted in the clearing, praying Nuke was alright. Neither Nuke nor Applebloom were in sight. The only thing that stood out was the line of charred and blackened grasses, ash, and a few small pieces of Timberwolf wood.

"Nuke? Applebloom?"

"They aren't here, Fluttershy." The yellow pegasus turned at the sound of Discord's voice. The draconequus was not looking very happy. He seemed upset, almost. "I…may have made a mistake."

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><p><strong>The italics in Nuke's dream was Applebloom trying to wake him up. The italics during the Alpha scene was Discord talking to Nuke via telepathy. Please don't kill me for this cliffhanger. Now that a new tri is starting, my time on a computer is going to be significantly less since I have no computer-oriented classes. I promise I will do my best to update this fanfiction. Feel free to ask any questions about this story. Thank you.<strong>

**jsun25, logging off**


	9. Try to Read This One Without Laughing

**I have no idea how these chapters are coming along so quickly. Anyways, as promised, this chapter will have your daily dose of changelings and the Monster Hunter world.**

**Han-Ko: Yes, yes he is.**

**pikachucat: Why, thank you**

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><p><strong>[Time skip: 10 years]<br>[Ponyville]**

Over the next ten years, there wasn't much that happened besides life as normal. That, however was if you didn't ask Nuke or Applebloom. After Discord had revealed to the faux-pony how he felt about Fluttershy, Nuke had done his best to help the draconequus get Fluttershy's attention. However, that help was soon to be limited, as Nuke approached a stage dreaded by all in the animal kingdom: the teenage years. He started out the same as all life forms, all legs and no body, complete with cracking voice. Lucky for him, the Brachydios side of him was still developing faster than that of a pony, and so he used that side of him to skip the dark years altogether. While he didn't have to face the same problems as the other young stallions in Ponyville, there was a new problem that he and he alone was targeted by: the young mares of Ponyville. For once, the faux-pony cursed his quick development, for if the rumors and gossip he overheard in the hallways of Ponyville's school, not only was he the best-looking young stallion in the school, some of his female classmates were wanting to get a little more than friendly with him. And so it was that he found himself asking Twilight to teach him an invisibility spell.

_Flashback_

_**[Golden Oaks Library, Ponyville, 4:05 pm]**_

"_Remind me again why you want to learn an invisibility spell?"_

"_So that I can escape the school with all my limbs intact." Twilight raised her hoof to her mouth as she tried and failed to suppress a giggle._

"_Let me guess. Mare problems?"_

"_You have no idea."_

_Flashback end_

**[Ponyville]**

He wasn't alone in this development, though. Applebloom had also attracted much attention as she grew. While she also had trouble initially in her teens, physical work at Sweet Apple Acres more than made up for it. Her body had gained a trimmed, fit look that many of the young mares at Ponyville's school envied. Her cutie mark was also a call to attention, for it dealt with the Apple family's greatest enemies: fruit bats. Or rather, former enemies. A family of fruit bats had been found in the barn by Applebloom, and instead of chasing them off, she actually tried talking to them. When she did this, her cutie mark appeared: a fruit bat holding onto an apple with its mouth open, as though relaying some secret. The fruit bats loved Applebloom, and she was the only pony, aside from Fluttershy, who could communicate with them. They told her the status of the trees in the orchard, and in return, they were given a small portion of the harvest. Applejack had objected at first, but when she saw the family of fruit bats chase off some others at Applebloom's request, she was fine with them staying in the barn.

Now, Nuke's invisibility spell did more than hide him from the opposite gender of the school. It also allowed him to eavesdrop on the meetings of his own gender. While the mares deliberately made sure that he could hear their whispers, the stallions made sure that he wasn't within hearing range of their meetings, for he was protective of the earth pony, and by association unicorn and pegasus, that he considered his first friends in Ponyville. The topics of the meetings were, of course, about the mares of Ponyville's school, and the first one that Nuke attended ended with an earth pony in the hospital with a broken foreleg for what he had said about Applebloom. The stallions never invited him again, and made sure that they were out of a unicorn's hearing range. Nuke was barely deterred by this. As with his first day of school on the playground, his Brachydios hearing mixed quite well with his pony hearing, and he always found out which pony talked about Scootaloo, Sweetie Bell, or Applebloom. Surely you've heard of Old Yeller. He would bark and growl, and if necessary, attack any intruders that came near his home, family, or friends. Nuke was Old Yeller on steroids, and unlike Old Yeller, was not going to be put down, for he did not have rabies. There was one time that Nuke found out about a plan to take Applebloom and Sweetie Bell by force. He immediately went to Big Mac and Rarity to let them know of the plan. The two older siblings were enraged, and followed Nuke to the two stallions foolish enough to even attempt such a feat. Needless to say, the sounds of two young stallions being beat up attracted much attention, but when Rarity, who was healing the two so that Nuke and Big Mac could beat them up some more, explained what was going on, the other ponies either left, or stuck around to watch the show. It got to the point that not even code names for the three mares worked, and they were left out of the conversations altogether.

Of course, these were not the only developments in Equestria. The changelings had been preparing for something very special. They had worked their way into the Department of Magical Artifacts, and discreetly swapped the Alicorn Amulet with a near-perfect copy. The only way to tell that it was a fake was to test its abilities, and since anypony that did that was overtaken by the Amulet's power, there were little to no chances of them being discovered anytime soon. As for why the changelings needed it, none save Chrysalis knew. What they did know was that if they got the Amulet, they would enjoy an upcoming festivity that all save them got to partake in: the Hearth's Warming Feast. This was more than enough incentive for them to steal the Amulet. However, we will look beyond Equestria for now, and at a different world, for more than one danger is approaching Ponyville.

**[Volcano, Area 2, 8:17 pm Tanzian Central Time (TCT)]**

"Guildmaster, we've found the most recent spot, nya. Whatever it was that stole our records left the same way that it came: a portal, nya."

"Excellent work, boys. Now we just gotta git the phials placed 'round the portal. Where are yeh, Smithy?" A Wyvernian wearing a blacksmith's apron came over to the Guildmaster, carrying a large sack on his back.

"I do hope you know what you're doing, Guildmaster. If you waste all these Dragon Phials for nothing…"

"Well, we gots to test the thing first, don't we, Smithy? Bark! Yeh got the carapace?" Bark approached the Guildmaster. Ever since the incident ten years back, Bark had hunted nothing but Brachydios. As a result, he had gained enough materials to have Smithy, the Guild's blacksmith, forge the Rank X Brachydios Armor. He had also gone after the more powerful Leviathans to obtain a Switch-Axe that very few had: the Celestial Demonbind. A single Brachydios Carapace was barely a dent in the materials he had collected.

"Right here, sir. Is it time to send it through?" The Guildmaster chuckled at the Switch-Axe Blademaster's enthusiasm.

"Not 'til Smithy carves the message on the carapace. Smithy?" Smithy took the carapace from Bark, and began scratching words onto the surface of the gleaming shell. In a few minutes, he had finished, and four words showed on the carapace: _We're coming for the Brachydios._ The Guildmaster grinned. "Activate the portal, boys!" At his word, the Felynes placed the Dragon Phials around the area the wormhole had been made, and the phials did as they did before when the egg had disappeared: they instantly filled with energy, warped, and reappeared in the center of where the wormhole had been made. This time, however, was different. The phials crashed together, smashing the glass that contained the energy. The explosion caused a roar not unlike that of an Elder Dragon, which resounded through the area, and a portal was opened. The Guildmaster's grin grew. "Toss it through, Bark!" The Blademaster complied with the command, and the carapace spiraled into the unknown depths of the tear in time and space. As soon as it passed the event horizon, there was a sudden vacuum around the portal. The portal closed, and air rushed to fill the vacuum, creating a quick tornado-like noise. The Guildmaster turned to Bark, his grin nearly splitting his face in half. "Get your team ready, Bark! The hunt begins tomorrow!"

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Ponyville's Café, Ponyville, 2:53 pm SET]  
>[Upcoming Event: Hearth's Warming. Preparations: In progress]<strong>

"So, Nuke, when are you going to ask Applebloom out?" The spit take that followed the question was completely expected by the gray pegasus that had asked. After all, he had been waiting for his friend to take a sip of his drink to ask. Nuke glared at the grinning pegasus.

"The exact moment you ask out Diamond Tiara."

"Low blow, dude."

"Like I care. Why are you even asking, Rumble?" Rumble rolled his eyes.

"You mean besides the fact that it's obvious you like her? The new guy has no clue about you and was eyeing her. And," he raised his voice slightly to stop Nuke from bolting right then and there. "I would like it if you could take care of him without him needing a trip to the hospital afterwards. One of the ways of doing this would be to ask her out." Nuke sighed.

"You do, of course, realize that even if we were together, he might still try and make a move on Applebloom, and that I would have to give him a much-needed trip to the hospital anyways?" Rumble smirked. Sometimes Nuke made it too easy.

"So what have you got to lose? You get to hurt him no matter what you choose to do." Nuke gave his friend a deadpanned look.

"I hate you."

"You'll get extra points with Applebloom if you beat him up while you're together and he flirts with her."

"I _really_ hate you."

"The feeling's mutual. Now get going. Scootaloo will be here any minute, and this needs to be perfect." Nuke snorted and went looking for Applebloom, muttering under his breath about how a certain pair of pegasi could have their date in Cloudsdale, but _no_, it had to be in Ponyville. Rumble just shook his head, and cleared the table of Nuke's drink. The gray pegasus had met the faux-unicorn when he had first asked out Scootaloo. Apparently, he was their go-to for any stallion that wanted to date one of the CMC. There had been no need to worry, as Nuke had seen Rumble when they were still colts, and had already decided that he was a good pony. When he and Thunderlane went to live in Cloudsdale, Rumble had made a promise to himself to find a reason to go back to Ponyville. Scootaloo just so happened to be that reason.

The two had earned their cutie marks at the same time while working a rainstorm. As he grew, Rumble noticed his wings enlarging at quite a rate. By the time he was in his early teens, they were bigger than the wings of the other pegasi. By the time they stopped growing, the two feathery limbs were the size of an alicorn's wings. This allowed him to make a rumbling sound, not unlike thunder. By the time the weather team working the rainstorm realized that the area was scheduled for a thunderstorm instead, it was too late. The clouds were dark and heavy with rain, but nothing else was in the clouds. So Rumble had flown all through the cloudbank, flapping his wings as hard as he could, and creating false thunder for the storm. As he did so, his cutie mark appeared: the image of a thundercloud with a bass drumstick overlaying the cloud. His talent, however, did not come without a price.

After the storm finished, Rumble was struggling to stay aloft, as his wings were heavier than a regular pegasus's wings, and flapping them as hard as possible took a lot of effort. Scootaloo had been flying above him, and noticed he looked tired, but dismissed it at first. When he blacked out and began to fall, she dove after him, grabbing him under his forelegs. Knowing that he was too heavy to support on her own, she spread her wings as far as she could, hoping that they could glide in and land on something soft. Unfortunately, her glide led them into a narrow stretch of canyon, which was filled with stalagmites, rocky outcrops, boulders, arches, and craggy ledges. Years of performing stunts on her scooter paid off, as she maneuvered them through the canyon without so much as a scratch on either one of them. Corkscrews, flips, barrel rolls and more kept the two from harm. When she dropped him in a meadow, her own cutie mark appeared on her flank: the silhouette of a pony doing a flip. The rest, as they say, was history.

Going back to Nuke, we find him trotting towards the Sweet Apple Acres orchard, hoping to find Applebloom before Applejack or Big Mac. He suspected Granny Smith didn't give a griffon's backside about what he did, as the old mare didn't seem to be all there. The trip to the orchard had given him time to think about what he would ask Applebloom to go with him to. The answer had come quite easily: the Hearth's Warming play. It was a big event every year, and this year, they were showing it early, due to Discord promising a "surprise that everypony will enjoy", with the promise that it was not chaotic. In the event that the surprise proved to be too much for the ponies, the Mayor had decided to do the play early, so that at least one part of Hearth's Warming could be enjoyed. The faux-pony went through the orchard, glancing around every now and then to look for Applebloom. He eventually found a fruit bat examining one of the trees. Hearing his hoofsteps, the bat flew at him, squeaking indignantly. "I can't understand what you're saying. Can you understand me?" The bat squeaked and nodded. "Alright. Can you go tell Applebloom that I'm looking for her?" The fruit bat nodded again, and flew off. Knowing that it would be best for him to stay put, Nuke settled against an apple tree to wait.

~~~~Line Break~~~~

Fluttershy was tending to her garden when something flew out of nowhere and slammed into the ground. She shrieked, and zipped underneath a nearby basket. When nothing moved, she gingerly stuck her head out. Curiosity got the better of her, and she approached the crater. As she got closer,  
>Fluttershy noticed that the thing gleamed, like Nuke when his scales were polished. She eventually reached the object, and picked it up. The moment she inspected it, her face paled, for on the object were five words: <em>We're coming for the Brachydios.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>DUH DUH DUUUUUUUNNNN! You read that right! The hunters are coming to Equestria for Nuke! Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I shall now give a timeline of what has happened so far. Discord finds Nuke's egg; Discord delivers Nuke's egg to Fluttershy; Nuke hatches; Nuke's explosive qualities are shown; Nuke's first day of school; Nuke gets thrown into a tree; Applebloom and Nuke are attacked by Timberwolves; Applebloom learns about Nuke's true form; NukeApplebloom fluff; Hunters are preparing a hunt for Nuke *GASP!*. I think that covers it. By the way, the part where Big Mac and Nuke beat up those two stallions? True story. My friend overheard two guys at school talking about how they'd have some _fun_ with his sisters, then blame some other guy. He let his dad know, and they cornered the two. I'll let your imaginations go from there.**

**jsun25, logging off**


	10. Elder Dragon's Roar

**I am so sorry that this took forever to post, guys. I meant to have this up before or by Christmas, but then I had no access to a computer that was compatible with my flash drive...*sigh* In any case, it's up now, and we are coming to the end of Fluttershy's Nuke. There will be a sequel, but don't expect it for awhile. I have to finish this first, and then I have to find out where my sister moved the first chapter of the sequel to in the computer...but enough about me. Let's get on to chapter 10 of Fluttershy's Nuke!**

**Han-Ko: Don't worry. You'll see what happens soon!**

**pikachucat: Thank you. It's good to know you like my story.**

**Diamondcrusher: Aw, shucks. You're making me blush. I think one of the reasons is because this crossover isn't a popular category. But still, thanks. :)**

* * *

><p><strong>[Error. Anomaly detected. Timespace position cannot be determined.]  
>[Error. Presence detected. Error. Presence is an impossibility.]<strong>

The dark figure frowned. The hunters were moving too quickly. At this rate, they would arrive before the changelings were ready. The being opened its mind to the Hunting World's essence, and reached into the timestream. Feeling time flow by, the dark figure let his aura fill the stream. Time lost its speed, and the hunters' progress was slowed to that of the changelings. It grinned. Perfect.

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Moga Village, 4:41pm Moga Set Time (MST)]**

Bark winced as his material chest creaked open. Those hinges really needed to be oiled. Dismissing the thought for now, he reached in, looking for the items necessary to hunt a Brachydios. Deodorant. Pitfall and Shock traps. Poisoned, tinged, and drugged meats. Smoke and flash bombs. Normally, he wouldn't bother bringing these, as he had hunted so many of the Brute Wyverns. This one, though, was different. If it was still alive, it had grown in an environment different from a Brach's normal volcanic area. Sure there was the odd Brachydios in the Tundra, but those were wanderers more than anything. Because the environment was unknown, he had to be careful. Packing the items into his pouch along with potions and energy drinks, he turned to the mannequin that held his Brachydios Armor. He put on the leg armor first, then the chest, making sure nothing was on wrong. Next came the waist protection, which was small but protective. He then pulled the gauntlets on, securing them in place. Finally, he grabbed his helmet. As always, the helmet fit perfectly, latching into place once attached properly. From the weapons rack he took the Celestial Demonbind, his favored weapon of choice against the Brachydios. Bark exited the hut, ready for battle. He was just about to ask one of the villagers where his companions were when they ran up to him.

"Cha-woo! See? Cha-cha told you he be first-first!"

"That's because Cha-cha cheated! He trip Kayamba!" Enraged, Cha-cha leapt at Kayamba, and the two Shakalaka rolled across the wooden planks of Moga Village. Sighing, Bark caught up to them, and quickly separated them by grabbing them and holding them apart from each other. "Hey! Put Kayamba down, minion. He still have to beat what little brain Cha-cha have out of Cha-cha skull!"

"Ha! Kayamba couldn't beat air out of jug-jug if he tried!"

"Stop it, you two. We've got a hunt." The word "hunt" caused the Shakalaka pair to stop their struggling.

"Minion got a hunt-hunt?"

"Yes. It's a Brachydios again, but this one is special." Satisfied that Cha-cha and Kayamba wouldn't start fighting again, he set them down. "Kayamba, go get the Pitfall Mask. Cha-cha, you've got the Rathalos Mask. I'll set up the sigils once you bring me the Masks." The two raced off, eager to get going. For whatever reason, they loved hunting Brachydios as much as Bark did. The hunter flagged down a villager. "Send a message to my hunting team. Tell them to meet me at Tanzia Port's tavern in two days' time." Nodding, the villager scampered off to the Guild Messaging System's Felyne. Bark looked out over the ocean. _'Soon, monster. Soon.'_

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Golden Oaks Library, Ponyville, 3:05 SET]  
>[Upcoming Event: Hearth's Warming. Preparations: In Progress. 64% finished.]<strong>

Fluttershy was freaking out. When she recovered from the shock of the carapace's message, the pegasus grabbed it and Discord, and rushed to Twilight's library. After showing the hardened shell to the alicorn, Fluttershy started pacing back and forth, worrying about Nuke's safety. Twilight, who had given up trying to calm the mare down, analyzed the carapace with her magic. Her findings made Discord growl. "Let me get this straight. The hunters found a way to make a portal of their own to our world, and have now threatened to come and kill Nuke?"

"That's right," Twilight stated, "and I think that they'll try and make good on that threat." Discord's next words were laced with venom, enough that Twilight was surprised that no actual poison came out of Discord's mouth.

"Then they had better prepare to fight a god of chaos. No one, human, pony, or otherwise, will lay a single appendage on Nuke." Looking over at Fluttershy, his resolve hardened further. "And that's a promise."

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Sweet Apple Acres, Outskirts of Ponyville, 3:10pm SET]**

"Nuke. Nuke!" The faux-pony opened his eyes with a start as he felt a hoof shaking him awake. "Am Ah gonna half to keep wakin' ya up like this?" Nuke felt his face warm slightly in embarrassment.

"Sorry, Applebloom. I guess I fell asleep waiting for you." Applebloom snorted.

"Oh, so yer callin' me slow now, are ya?" Flustered, Nuke quickly shook his head.

"N-no! That's not what I meant at all! I was just comfortable and dozed off, that's all!" Seeing her friend become antsy made Applebloom grin, amusement dancing in her eyes.

"Ah know that. Ah was just messin' with ya. Now then, ya had a question fer me?" It was then that our favorite faux-pony remembered why he had come to the farm: to ask Applebloom to the upcoming play. He nervously gave a silent gulp. It was now or never.

"Y-yeah. I was wondering if-" Nuke was cut off as a resounding roar erupted from Ponyville, causing the disguised Brachydios to whip his head towards the town. He did not know what the roar came from, but whatever it was, the faux-pony instinctively knew that it was an ancient, powerful creature. _High Kin. Don't cross it. _Startled, Nuke glanced around for the speaker of the voice. Then he remembered his instinctive thoughts. The creature was from his world. Before he could warn the young mare next to him, he felt the air stir, and the next thing Nuke knew, Applebloom was sprinting as fast as she could to Ponyville. He took off after her. "Applebloom, wait!"

"My sister's over there! Ah gotta know if she's okay!" Nuke was about to protest again, when the thought of Fluttershy struck his mind. What if she were in town as well? Sure, Discord would protect her, but what if this ancient beast was able to counter chaos magic? If that were true, just running into town would reveal him for what he really was. But he didn't care. He would defend those he cared for, no matter what, even if it meant becoming an outcast. Nuke felt his blood boil as his Brach temper flared.

'_No matter what.'_

~~~~Line Break~~~~

**[Everfree Forest, 3:09pm SET]**

"Come, my children. We are nearly there!" Queen Chrysalis's distorted voice called out to the changeling army, egging them on to their prize. As they approached, Chrysalis touched the Alicorn Amulet with her magic, and felt the power surge through her to her children. As the magic coursed through their mutilated bodies, the bug-like equines melted into the shadows of the Everfree Forest, hiding them from most prying eyes. Unknown to them, an eyeless figure watched the procession, then darted off unseen by the changelings. Its pale form flickered inbetween the trees of the forest as it sped towards a certain zebra's clearing with a warning on its lips. However, as stated before, none of the changelings noticed this being, not even their queen. The shadowy insectoids swarmed towards Ponyville, hindered by nothing.

Almost nothing, that is.

A roar, ancient and powerful, blasted through the forest, emanating from their target. The roar caused a halt amonst the changelings as their queen called out to them again: "Stop, my children, stop!" They were quiet and still as they awaited her next words. "I shall go investigate the cause of this roar. Let no more than ten minutes pass, and if I've not returned, advance upon Ponyville. Nothing will stop our feast!" A hiss of approval arose from the changelings, and she went off on her own, shifting from a changeling to an eagle. Letting her new wings propel her above the forest and through the air, Chrysalis sped to the litte town. _'Be you foe or friend, you will not stand in our way.'_

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><p><strong>I had to take a few liberties with the Alicorn Amulet, but I think that's it's not too far from what the Amulet can do. Also, a cookie for whoever guesses who or what the pale, eyeless figure was. I'll give you a hint: he's not an official MLP character, but he did make a cameo in one of the episodes! One last thing. If anyone reading this plays Yu-Gi-Oh, what kind of effect would Discord have if he were a duel monster? Please list his attribute, type, attack and defense as well.<strong>

**jsun25, logging off**


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